Volunteer of the Month
The Volunteer of the Month award is designed to recognize volunteers who have been nominated by their PMI peers for their outstanding work and commitment to advancing PMI Portland Chapter goals.
Recognizing our volunteers is an integral piece of PMI Portland Chapter success. Anyone can nominate folks for Volunteer of the Month. The Volunteer Recognition Team meets monthly to review all nominees and selects the Volunteer of the Month. Our Volunteer of the Month winners are invited to a Chapter Meeting as a PMI Portland Chapter guest, they receive an award presented at the Chapter meeting so our entire membership can celebrate in their success, and the committee will post a recognition in a member's LinkedIn profiles to let the rest of their network know about the contribution to the Chapter.
Nominations
It's easy to nominate a fellow volunteer for the Volunteer of the Month award!
>> Click here to fill out the nomination form <<
Recent Volunteers of the Month
Here are our recent Volunteer of the Month award winners.
May 2017 - Penelope Leudtke, Asst VP of Outreach
Penelope Luedtke was nominated by Gregory Spehar and selected as the Volunteer of the Month, May 2017. Penelope has been working hard to help recruit and fill out our Outreach Team. We have been working hard to build out the team and get Outreach as a team to a level performing to help the overall PMI Portland Association. Penelope has been key to helping to make that happen. Thank you for your efforts.
May 2017 - Yvonne Khoo, Annual Conference Speaker Team
Yvonne Khoo was nominated by Sunny Zobel and selected as the Volunteer of the Month in May, 2017. Her remarkable dedication to the 2017 Annual Conference as a Speaker Team member and devotion to organization and ensuring materials reflect the level of quality and professionalism the Chapter is admirable. She exhaustively collaborated to build/edit/review, personalize and distribute vital speaker agreements and other deliverables necessary for other portfolios, helping ensure continuity of info and messaging across docs and folders. Additionally, she is actively working to help clarify AC Speaker Team processes/documentation that will GREATLY aid next year's AC Speaker Team. Besides which -- Yvonne is delightful to work with!
April 2017 - Robert Beck, Director of Quality
Robert Beck was nominated by Shannon MacDonald-Musson and nominated for Volunteer of the month in April, 2017. Robert's willingness to step into the quality director role and taking the lead on the quality program in appreciated. Thank you for your continued efforts!
April 2017 - Divya Jain, Director of Member Services
Dyvia Jain was nominated by Shannon MacDonald-Musson and selected as the Volunteer of the Month for April, 2017. Divya has been doing an outstanding job at new member orientation and promoting the AC and volunteering. Thank you!
March 2017 - Elizabeth Ray, Web Admin3
Elizabeth Ray was nominated by Jani Hansen and selected as the Volunteer of the Month in March, 2017. Elizabeth joined the Ops team and took over support for the Annual Conference. She proactively learned all the tools and supported the processes and people helping to make the conference a success. Elizabeth covered during the crucial weeks prior to the conference in the absence of the webmaster and also attended the conference as tech support. Thanks!
March 2017 - Jenessa Stieglitz, Asst Director of Volunteer Management
Jenessa Stieglitz was nominated by Goke Owojori and selected as the March Volunteer of the Month. She is proactive, responsive and contributes with excitement and professionalism. Jenessa is very enthusiastic and always displays a positive attitude. Thank you for all you do for the Chapter!
February 2017 - Trisha Bowman, Asst VP of Programs
Trisha Bowman was nominated for and awarded the Volunteer of the Month for February. Titu Hariharan noticed Trisha shows enthusiasm and is willing to take on more and it is this quality and commitment shown has made her the Asst. VP of Programs. Thank you for giving your best to our Chapter and taking on a leadership role. Thank you, Trisha!
February 2017 - Patrick Mullany, Director of Registration
Patrick Mullany was nominated by Titu Hariharan and selected as Volunteer of the Month in the in February. Pat is consistent, exceeds expectations, extends himself when possible and is very reliable. He makes the chapter meeting registration and check in process smooth and seamless. Thank you Patrick!
Congratulate Patrick at registration@pmi-portland.org
December 2016 - Goke Owojori, DIrector of Volunteer Management
Goke Owojori was nominated by Shannon Musson and selected as Volunteer of the Month in the Month of December. Goke is a more recent addition to the Membership portfolio and has proven to be reliable and continually engaged in his efforts. In addition, Goke has been seen to and amazing job learning and managing the hiring system here at the Portland Chapter. Thank you for all your help Goke!
Congratulate Goke at volunteer@pmi-portland.org
December 2016 - Scott White, Web Admin4
Scott White was nominated by Shannon Musson and selected as Volunteer of the Month in December for all the support he has kindly provided in his efforts around our chapter website. Specifically Scott has been noted supporting the membership portfolio and volunteer teams ensuring addition of website content. Thank you for you polite and swift additions as you efforts do not go unnoticed.
Congratulate Scott at web_admin4@pmi-portland.org
November 2016 - Carrie De Freitas, DIrector of Special Events
Carrie De Freitas was nominated for Volunteer of the month by Jimmy Goddard and Trisha Bowman then selected as the VOM in the month of November. Carrie is one of the most exceptional volunteers that we have in our Chapter. We recently created the position of Special Events to create stronger connections with our members. Carrie has taken over that position, defined it, and made it hers. She is very innovative, creative, and visionary.
Carrie is the true definition of multi-tasking. Her first win was the coordination of our movie event. She raised the bar above and beyond. She is very organized, and has brought tremendous value to our Program Portfolio. I thank you so much Carrie for partnering with us. Your teamwork spirit is very contagious. It is an honor to call you a teammate. I appreciate and value all your hard work and effort. STAY CONTAGIOUS….
Congratulate Carrie at dir_special_events@pmi-portland.org
November 2016 - Regina Koli, Director of Academic Outreach
Regina Koli was selected as a Volunteer of the Month in November after being nominated by Penelope Luetke and Greg Spehar. Regina has enthusiastically embraced her role as the Director of Academic Outreach and agreed to take on the PMI Educational Foundation duties as well. Regina has been working with local Universities over the summer and has been able to secure the opportunity to have 35 students attend the November Dinner meeting for them to see what PMI is all about. The Outreach Portfolio appreciates her work to share PMI with our education partners!
Congratulate Regina at acad_outreach@pmi-portland.org
September 2016 - Mark Saindon, DIrector of 2016 Annual Conference
Mark Saindon was nominated by Jani Hansen and awarded the Volunteer of the Month in September, 2016. Mark "shepherded" the 2016 annual conference with kindness and attention to detail using his great skills in the most supportive manner leading to a very successful event. Taking on this enormous task proved he is a true servant leader and always a pleasure to work with. Thank you Mark.
Congratulate Mark at annual_conf@pmi-portland.org
September 2016 - Julie Gorham, Director of Marketing Strategy and 2016 Annual Conference Marketing Champion
Julie Gorham was nominated for Volunteer of the Month of September by Shannon Musson and brings amazing ideas and support to the chapter within all portfolios. She also brings strength and value to our annual conference marketing efforts for the last 3 years. She makes a positive impact to the chapter in the most impressive way. Thank you Julie.
Congratulate Julie at strategy@pmi-portland.org
June 2016 - Trish Kelley, PDU Reporting Expert
Trish Kelley was nominated by AJ John and awarded the Volunteer of the Month award in June, 2016. She embraced the task to explain the new PDU reporting structure to our members by the VP of Professional Development in 2015 and continues to do this at roundtables and our professional day(s) refining her presentation to meet the needs of our members whenever needed. She is also the primary contact for the PMI Portland Toastmaster Club for the past 2 years and a champion of marketing the meetings. Thank you Trish.
Congratulate Trish at reporting_expert@pmi-portland.org
June 2016 - Larry Peacock, Director of Military Liaison
Larry Peacock was nominated by AJ John and awarded the Volunteer of the Month in June, 2016. Larry as our Liaison for Military Outreach successfully proposed, gained financing from the Outreach Portfolio, then completely set-up and managed an open house for veterans last spring near the PSU campus in Portland. He provided Project Management exposure to veterans as an employment opportunity at that open house and continues to promote PMI and project management to our great veterans and those still on active duty, just because! Thank you Larry.
Congratulate Larry at military_liaison@pmi-portland.org
June 2016 - Penelope Luedtke, Director of Volunteer Recognition
As Director of the Volunteer Recognition team, Penelope Luedtke proved to be a key champion of the volunteer annual recognition cruise and is awarded the Volunteer of the Month for June, 2016 by Shannon Musson. Penelope's creative ideas, and diligent team leading collaborations provided the team direction and organization in making the event such a success. Her creativity sparked the implementation of ideas such as a socially engaging game of celebrity identification while leading consistent team meetings assuring alignment and timely success. Over the past year, Penelope's volunteer time delivered awards at every Chapter dinner, assuring our appreciation for those who help make the Portland chapter a leading entity.
Congratulate Penelope at technology@pmi-portland.org
May 2016 - Chen Chen, Director of Technology
Our Director of Technology, Chen Chen, has been very busy behind the scenes at PMI Portland Chapter! Chen has been instrumental in working towards another chapter goal, modernize the technology we use in service delivery to our members. Given the vision (and nomination BTW) from our VP of Operations, Stephen Wilks, Chen tackled the challenge and successfully moved us from one complex system to another with almost NO service impact to our membership. The Volunteer Recognition Team was happy to present Chen with the VOM for May 2016!
Congratulate Chen at technology@pmi-portland.org.
May 2016 - Mike Goss
Mike Goss was nominated for Volunteer of the Month by Saby Waraich for his time and energy bringing the PMI Portland Chapter closer to one of its goals - expanding social media exposure. Mike took video and pictures at numerous events which was great - but then he produced our first chapter videos with the material - which was AWESOME - and shared through Twitter and Facebook. This made the chapter able to reach out in new ways and we look forward to being able to share more of what we do. The chapter wouldn't be as far in its social media campaign without Mike, so Thank You!
April 2016 - Margaret Matera, Director of Volunteers
The Volunteer Recognition Team didn't have to think hard about Margaret Matera's nomination by Jimmy Goddard for Volunteer of the Month for April 2016. Margaret is our Director of Volunteers and most recently has spent hours of time with the Volunteer Management Initiative (VMI) project. The VMI project is moving the PMI Portland Chapter into the future with more standardization and service delivery to our volunteers. Without input from her Director experience, our goal to more effectively manage our resources would have been a much more arduous process.Thank you Margaret!
Congratulate Margaret at volunteer@pmi-portland.org.
April 2016 - Kathy Kiwala, Asst. Director of Volunteers
In April the Volunteer Recognition Team was pleased to award Kathy Kiwala with Volunteer of the Month. Kathy is the Assistant Director of Volunteers and plays an integral part of the volunteer team.
Here's what Jimmy Godard, PMI Portland Chapter President-Elect had to say when he nominated Kathy: "Kathy, I thank you for your assistance with the membership portfolio. You have contributed heavily to our Volunteer program. This program seeks at making us better as an organization not only for our members, but also for our volunteers. Your willingness to take on tasks, your ideas, and your vision has been a tremendous blessing to us. I thank you greatly."
Congratulations Kathy! We are so grateful you're one of our volunteers!
March 2016 - Sunny Zobel
The Volunteer Recognition Team was delighted to present the Volunteer of the Month award to Sunny Zobel for March 2016. Here's what her nominator, Shannon Musson had to say, "Sunny has done a fantastic job with research, interviewing and documenting processes to improve quality for the membership portfolio and the chapter. Her energy and emotional investment is an attribute that deserves recognition." Thank you Sunny for your contributions to the PMI Portland Chapter!
February 2016 - Valerie D'Sa-Mayer, Asst. VP of Professional Development
The PMI Portland Chapter Volunteer Recognition Team was pleased to award Valerie with Volunteer of the Month for February. Valerie was nominated by Stephen Wilks for her outstanding work as the Director of Mentoring. Here's what Stephen had to say, "She worked really hard to get the mentoring program going, working with me and with Jean (and others) to discover what was possible, and working to make it all a reality. She has a lot of people signed up and has worked to make the process sustainable as well. Very tenacious and very kind." Valerie is a volunteer rock star here at PMI Portland Chapter, her enthusiasm and energy have promoted her within the chapter to Assistant VP of Professional Development for Events and Mentoring. In fact, she's done so much, that when we were reviewing what she had been nominated for, three different people responded with three different reasons! Thank you Valerie for all you do.
Congratulate Valerie at asst_vp_prof_devel_events@pmi-portland.org.
February 2016 - Kris Ressler, PMP/CAPM Instructor
The PMI Portland Chapter Volunteer Recognition Team was pleased to award Volunteer of the Month for February to Kris Ressler. Kris was nominated by Wes Smith for his commitment to the PMP/CAPM program. Wes said of Kris, "Kris really stepped up and saved the day during the review session of the fall PMP/CAPM exam prep course by covering the two most complex sections of the course for other instructors who couldn't make it." The PMP/CAPM course is one of the most important services the chapter provides to it's membership. Without volunteers like Kris the chapter wouldn't be able to reach its goals. Thank you Kris, from all of us on the Volunteer Recognition Team and the entire Portland Chapter!
January 2016 - Wes Smith, Dir. of PMP Certification
At our January Chapter Dinner we were finally able to catch up with Wes Smith, a Volunteer of the Month for December 2015. Wes stepped in and stepped up to the challenge of being our PMP Certification Director. Here's what his nominator, Shannon Musson, had to say about Wes, "Wesly took over this role after it was abandoned and made it a success! He brought in new ideas and made very wise improvements!" Thank you Wes, we appreciate your dedication.
Congratulate Wes at pmp_certification@pmi-portland.org.
January 2016 - Kaylan Adams, Newsletter Director
The Volunteer Recognition Team was delighted to choose Kaylan Adams for recognition as a Volunteer of the Month for January 2016. Here's what Kaylan's nominator, Jani Hansen, said about her choice, "I wanted to let you know about the great improvements we've made with regards to the Newsletter production. Kaylan has been a stellar leader and has implemented some easy and efficient collaboration tools that I would dearly love to see the rest of the chapter emulate. This is very, very simple but has us working very efficiently. For the last 2 months I have spent less than 4 hours on the newsletter (as opposed to 8-12 in the past)." Thank you Kaylan! Any improvement for once part of our Chapter Operations is truly appreciated.
Congratulate Kaylan at newsletter_dir@pmi-portland.org.
Join the Club
If you are interested in growing your skills and your network, see the Volunteer Opportunities web page.
Questions? Contact the Director of Volunteer Recognition.